


Public Perception

by TenSpencerRiedPlease



Series: Trial and Error [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, But it fit into this universe, Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Christine Everhart's Take on Civil War, Gen, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sokovia Accords, This was half inspired by a commenter, Tony Feels, Winter Soldier Trial, this is like 1.5 to World War Me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 04:34:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11372670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenSpencerRiedPlease/pseuds/TenSpencerRiedPlease
Summary: Christine, since she was a child, has always been interested in the truth. She’s made it her business to track down the facts and to tell people about them even before she was a reporter. Some people didn’t take their jobs very seriously, reporting half-baked stories before they had every angle and that was their stupidity.





	Public Perception

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tbhnour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbhnour/gifts).



> As noted in the gifting section- this was gifted to tbhnour, who gave me the initial idea of Christine writing an article on Civil War. Granted it wasn't exactly the 'defending Tony' article that was mentioned in our conversation, but I didn't think it'd be in Christine's character to out and out defend Tony. I figure she's harsh, but fair, and she'd see things from both sides even if she ultimately sided with Tony.
> 
> This is also essentially 1.5 in my Trial and Error series. World War Me takes place first, then this one, then Toy Soldier. Granted this can also easily be read as it's own piece, but it also takes place in a set AU that's established in which Bucky has dissociative identity disorder and the Winter Soldier (James) is his own personality. Just in case any of y'all get lost. But mostly it's Christine's article.

Christine, since she was a child, has always been interested in the truth. She’s made it her business to track down the facts and to tell people about them even before she was a reporter. Some people didn’t take their jobs very seriously, reporting half-baked stories before they had every angle and that was their stupidity. Christine has always been ambitious too and sometimes that landed her in hot water. People didn’t like their dirty laundry aired to all but if they were truly worried about how they would be perceived than she thought they should make an effort to be better people.

That had been how she ended up attached to Tony Stark after all. Weapons were, in her opinion, _not_ the answer to near everything like Tony had once thought and as she expected he had brushed her off. Her scathing article on him had gotten her into some trouble but she wasn’t playing games here, she was reporting facts and if the politicians didn’t like that she knew about their involvement in matters they should be keeping their noses out of, well, she wasn’t the one who sent U.S armies into civilian cities for no reason. Not her problem. She was just telling people what they had a right to know. Then Tony had gotten kidnapped and renounced his weapons, something she found hard to believe given his previous attitude and general arrogance and then she found his weapons in places he claimed they shouldn’t be.

The last thing she had expected out of the encounter was for him to be surprised- _genuinely_ surprised- and he had left the gala she ambushed him at. She had sensed she was onto something there, something that didn’t necessarily involve Tony being the villain and she had been right. Obadiah Stane nearly killed him that night and she had been the first on the scene not that one Pepper Potts had been happy about it. Tony hadn’t had anything to hide though and she was counting on that attitude when she approached him after what the media had dubbed the ‘Civil War’ between him and the ever lovely Captain America. She was not a fan of Tony Stark nor was she a fan of Steve Rogers. Neither man seemed like decent heads of what was essentially an international super powered police squad but those opinions were personal. She wasn’t here for the personal; she was here for the _story_.

Tony had been rather open with the media thus far but she knew him and she knew he was skirting around certain details and she intended to get those details. She had been pleased to learn that Pepper had dumped Tony too because the woman was a nuisance to her and she had better things to do than verbally slam Pepper until Tony felt the need to shoo her out of the room before she punched Christine. It was surprisingly effective for her and Pepper, despite her obvious intelligence, fell for it every time. With her gone her job was far easier, especially when Tony talked more without her guidance. It was best to catch him alone, even if she would come to feel bad for him when she gathered all the details.

It took several interviews and a _lot_ of reviewing her tapes before she started to pull at the inconsistencies and unravel the actual events of the ‘Civil War’ but it happened. Tony had, surprisingly, far more control over himself now than he had when they first met or even a year ago. After she learns everything there is to learn she understands why he seemed so different and her faith in Captain America was… damaged. She had no faith in the Avengers before this mess and she had less faith in them now, especially when she learns that Tony had no faith in them either. He held more positive opinions than she did but Tony Stark is an optimist of the highest caliber. Being scolded again and again and again would do little to his ability to wish for the best, to strive to get there even if he got jaded along the way. She held none of the reservations he had and had no problem with losing faith in things. It didn’t mean her efforts were wasted and unlike most she didn’t mind being wrong. Being wrong meant she got to learn and learning meant she was closer to actually seeing the truth of something and that’s all she’s ever wanted.

Barnes had been around some during the interviews but he said nothing for the most part. His facial expressions, though, said more than he could. There was guilt, pain, disgust, and sorrow, all for _Tony_ of all people. She would have thought he would side with his old friend all things considered but when she asks all he does is shakes his head. “I understand why Steve wouldn’t want to work with anyone. I know better than anyone what its like to answer to the wrong people, how damaging that can be for everyone. But I understand what limits are and why they’re needed and I don’t think he does. I don’t think he _cares_ ,” he says. The opinion is personal, she knows, because of the bitterness in his voice but the opinion piques her interest. He leaves shortly after that and Christine wanted more on what exactly he meant by that but he never shows up again. Tony’s doing no doubt. He was strangely protective over someone who had murdered his parents but she gets the scoop on that too.

There wee several details, like the underwater prison in particular, that Tony wanted her to keep to herself but she never promised him anything and he should know her better by now. She wasn’t in the business of keeping secrets; she was in the business of exposing them. So she writes everything out starting with a timeline of events, everyone’s arguments, Tony’s tapes of him admitting everything she wrote was true, and Bucky’s own opinion on things. She also notes that Bucky’s take was not a fleshed out one so it wasn’t reliable, but it did call Captain America into question when even his own best friend thought he was careless. She also tracks everything she needs to corroborate Tony’s words to make _him_ a reliable source too. She even manages to get a quote from the King of Wakanda though it hadn’t been easy. Everything checks out but she makes sure the public can trace it all back too, including the bare details Tony _didn’t_ mention to her. Most of that was what happened when Steve started to track Bucky again and then they took out a strike team.

That was also something she wanted more on- why Bucky seemed to be on Steve’s side for so long when he obviously wasn’t now. She notes that in her brief mention of Bucky in her timeline too. Things weren’t adding up there and the public would know it- if she acknowledged it and stated that she also thought pieces were missing there the public would be more likely to believe the rest of her claims. She does her best to track Steve down for his own views but the best she gets is a few statements from Sam Wilson and a lot of yelling from Clint Barton. Sam was skeptical of Tony but seemed to know he was missing something in regards to how he handled himself and Christine agrees when he recounts the events in that prison before Tony went to find Steve. Reckless and stupid on his part in her opinion, and something Sam was obviously surprised she knew but he confirms the story for her. She finds his opinion of Tony in the prison fascinating because he told Tony his admitting to his being wrong was a first.

Christine was there when Tony revealed his identity as Iron Man. The first thing he did was state that he grew comfortable with a system that had no interest in accountability, that he had no such interest in being a part of a system like that again. That he was wrong. His entire identity as a super hero was built on his knowledge that if he was to have the amount of power that he did than he needed to use it to help people, not blow them up. His wording had been something along the lines of having more to offer the world than blowing things up. She agreed and she was rather surprised to find that Sam Wilson, who was easily the most level headed person on Steve’s ‘side’, didn’t see that. It’s Clint’s loud mouth and wild opinions that tell her that these people knew nothing about Tony Stark.

She would have liked to gather Steve’s assessment of things from his own point of view if for no other reason than having a well-rounded story but the best she gets is Steve’s letter. It surprises her when she reads it and getting ahold of her own copy had been a real bitch but she manages. Maybe she hadn’t gathered Cap’s side of things but she _did_ have his own words to Tony and they were considerably contradictory to the events Tony told her about that Sam confirmed. There were pieces missing still, she knows, but she had enough to report on the Civil War itself even if some of the personal details- particularly in regards to Bucky- were missing. She’d get those too, with time.

*

Tony hadn’t exactly been looking _forward_ to Christine’s article but he had been _pissed_ to see that she aired every detail he told her not to and _then_ made sure all those recordings of them talking were available too. Including the bit with Bucky and thank _god_ it was Bucky because James actually agreed somewhat with Steve’s point of view. Tony understood why after being tortured by HYDRA for so long, limits were now reason for him to run because when he used to run into limits he’d get tortured or worse.

Bucky though, he liked the confines of limits because it gave him expectations instead of expecting him to free fall and hope for the best. It was why he liked cooking and baking so much. Plus Steve continuously trying his best to insert himself into Bucky’s life when Bucky wasn’t quite ready to be there informed his opinion on the subject. James didn’t like Steve trying to force himself into Bucky’s life either but the irony of liking being limitless while wanting to set limits on Steve was lost on him.

“What’s got you so annoyed?” James asks, throwing himself into a chair with his bowl of cereal. Yeah, Bucky was going to need to show back up and feed them soon because James and Tony were living on ramen and whatever couldn’t be cooked after that last time they attempted making a meal. Professionals had to be called to fix that mistake.

“Christine goddamn Everhart,” he says, glaring at her article. James raises an eyebrow but says nothing as Tony reads.

**‘Civil War’: Captain America Needs An American History Lesson**

Christine Everhart

With the recent events of what has been dubbed the ‘Civil War’ between Captain America and Iron Man people have questions. Among the two most popular questions after the generic ‘what happened?’ question why Captain America, the man well-known for his patriotism and willingness to work with the government suddenly turned on them while Tony Stark, a man well known for his distrust in the government, suddenly sided with them.

Make no mistake: the Sokovia Accords are not perfect and this article is by no means a way to defend them or even discuss them in detail. This article aims to examine how and why each Avenger came to their conclusion and, perhaps more importantly, to criticize Captain America in particular for the way the events of the Civil War was handled. Tony Stark may have issues but he knows it, the public knows it, and he works to change his actions with minimal success. Captain America is not even able to admit when he is stepping out of line and, at best, that is dangerous.

Lets start by examining each Avenger’s arguments. Tony Stark, as we know, was in favor of the Accords and signed them- but why would a man who has out and out told Congress that they were never going to get his suits for their own purposes suddenly agree to all but hand himself (and therefore his suits) over to the UN? The answer is as sad as it is simple: Tony Stark has no faith in his own decision-making capabilities and after Ultron perhaps he should not. We know now about Wanda Maximoff’s involvement in the making of Ultron but Stark is a smart man- he has seen the same pattern as the public. The Avengers aren’t necessarily known for making good choices and until recently one might be able to claim this was all Stark’s own doing (though that would still, I should point out, call Steve Rogers’ leadership abilities into question).

His argument, for the most part, was that if the Avengers were ‘not willing to accept limits than they were no better than the bad guys’. To those who may act as if this is new for Stark it is not- one might recall when he came back from his three months of captivity in his pre- Iron Man days. He had stated then that he had become comfortable with his obvious lack of accountability and that he should not have been. Stark was more than right in his assumptions that he should be held accountable when he does wrong- every American citizen is held to some kind of law and Tony Stark should be no different. Given his actions in recent years it is easy to see why he might make this argument, namely after Ultron even without Maximoff’s involvement.

The public already knows that Tony Stark is reckless, arrogant, and often thoughtless too. His actions have, on several occasions, resulted in large disasters that caused a lot of damage and the lack of faith in him is understandable. However Captain America has shown us actions that are almost no different, but unlike Stark Rogers has very good luck and thus we praise him for his reckless abandon. Where Stark’s recklessness results in disaster Rogers’ recklessness usually results in him saving the day but at the heart of things reckless arrogance should be treated the same no matter the result. Rogers is as dangerous as Stark, perhaps more so after the true events of this ‘Civil War’ have been revealed.

Civil War has complicated things for the American public and it should.

The arguments from Captain America’s side were mostly in regards to abuse of power. To be clear his argument was good- Steve Rogers has more than good reason to worry about how and when the government would use the Avenger’s power after the government agency SHIELD was revealed to be HYDRA in disguise. Rogers was asking who was making the decisions, how they were going to be made, and how exactly the Avengers themselves played a part in this decision-making. These are the kinds of questions we see coming from a leader and someone who is concerned with the power they wield being used for harmful purposes. If this were where his argument stopped it would be reasonable to side with him.

Cap’s argument, however, could be summed up with his saying (according to Stark and confirmed by Sam Wilson AKA Falcon) ‘the best hands are still our own’. Stark’s reason for disagreeing is obvious- he knows when being a hero is left to him he botches it and he is correct in his thought process. While Steve Rogers was asking good questions his end argument is for _zero oversight_. There is no police force on this planet that is considered anything but invasive, reckless, terrifying, and authoritarian when it runs with zero oversight. Stark’s solution may not have been he best one- Rogers was right to ask about who was calling the shots- but he at least had the presence of mind to know that no person has the right to inflict their will on the world without at least consulting them first.

People who take issue with the government abusing their power over their citizens found their sentiments reflected in Rogers’ argument against the Accords. Even Stark was not ignorant to this problem- he had several plans to ratify pieces of the Accords to better reflect how the Avengers operate. The section that was called the most into question (according to Stark) regarded how to handle emergency situations. In fact Stark’s plans to ratify sounded appealing enough to Rogers that he almost signed the Accords until he had discovered Stark had Wanda Maximoff confined (in loose terms) in the Avengers compound to avoid further media issues in regards to her powers after Lagos. What Maximoff’s situation had to do with Stark’s reasoning on the Accords is unknown given that Maximoff’s being in the compound had little to do with signing the Accords. Rogers was unavailable for questioning.

Stark himself admits that he was wrong in regards to Maximoff and the two have since resolved their differences. Maximoff cites that, should Stark have worked the situation out with her instead of thrusting his will on her (ironic given the situation with the Accords) she would likely agreed to simply remain in the compound. Maximoff has also stated that many of her actions during the following events of the Civil War were not only childish and immature, they were flat out dangerous. Something Rogers had no problem with and was hardly held accountable for. His teammates were briefly imprisoned (more on that later) but ultimately saw no reprimand for their actions.

So Rogers saw Stark’s argument for a short enough time that he nearly abandoned his own argument to side with him. Stark actually _did_ abandon his own argument to side with Rogers and the following events are perhaps why the good Captain’s faith should be questioned more than Stark’s.

Upon discovery of _five_ other Winter Soldiers thanks to Bucky Barnes’ testimony Thaddeus Ross arranged for a human strike team to take them out. At the time Rogers and Stark both believed Baron Zemo intended to unleash them onto the world- something that would be catastrophic given the damage Barnes managed to inflict in the brief time his Winter Soldier training was reactivated. Stark cited knowing Ross’ team would be decimated by the Winter Soldiers, that superpowered intervention was the only way to manage this situation. Given the later breakout Bucky Barnes and Captain America preformed to bust the rest of the Avengers out of an underwater prison his concerns are easily understandable (see video footage of Barnes and Rogers breaking the Avengers out of prison).

Zemo had been lucky in his guess that Stark would show up to help his teammate because he came prepared with video footage of Barnes murdering his parents. This was information that Stark was unaware of- until that moment he thought his parents had died in a car crash. To add insult to injury he also discovered that Rogers knew about this for years and chose not to tell him (ironic given that we have footage of him insulting Stark for keeping secrets during the Ultron incident). From there Stark reacted quite similarly to the King of Wakanda when he had thought the Winter Soldier killed his father. Rogers fought him back on it and Barnes defended his own life. Stark recalls Rogers’ orders to Barnes were to leave the premises immediately- a wise choice.

From here we know T’Challa arrested Zemo and brought him to justice. What we did not know was that Steve Rogers not only crushed the reactor of Stark’s suit during the fight over Barnes, but he left the man in Siberia (where the Winter Soldiers were stored). He also left his shield behind when Stark criticized him for carrying it, citing that his friendship with his father should mean more than him defending the elder Stark’s murderer.

These actions have little to do with the Accords (Stark’s actions notwithstanding at least until Barnes’ reveal as his parents’ killer). Why mention them then? Perhaps because Rogers dropped the subject of the Accords as soon as his previous best friend was in danger, not mention them again until Stark received a somewhat insulting from Rogers after the Avengers were safely housed in an unknown location (see the photo of the letter below). The moment Barnes hit the scene Rogers dropped everything to go to him- including his responsibilities as a hero and a citizen.

Wilson recalls Rogers’ connection to his friend in Lagos, citing that he froze in the field as soon as Brock Rumlow mentioned Barnes. Rogers later, according to Wilson, admitted to his failure to act and stated that he had felt ‘like a sixteen year old kid in Brooklyn again’. This sheds a new light on Maximoff’s actions and once again calls Rogers’ ability to lead into question.

Not only was the solution to have _zero_ oversight and responsibility for his own actions, but he also dropped his responsibilities as soon as it was convenient, breaking several hundred laws in several different countries to get his friend back. While some may argue his actions were to detain the Winter Soldier before he harmed more people. It is, however, worthwhile to remember that Rogers let the Winter Soldier walk away after the events in Washington and used the Avengers to try and track him for well over two years (on Stark’s dime, despite knowing the man they were hunting murdered his benefactor’s parents- an unethical decision at best) before and after Ultron. His actions were hardly driven out of worry for the public or he would have been upfront to Stark in regards to his parents’ deaths. The actions following the presentation of the Accords simply brought his already faltering leadership and decision-making capabilities to a head.

Stark was obviously compromised, but he had the good sense to know that he was in no position to be making decisions that could shake the world. Not only was Rogers willfully ignorant to his own mental state, but his entire _team_ (Stark included) encouraged it. No one has since called him on his obvious emotional instability and Rogers remains either unwilling to deal with his hang ups in regards to Barnes or ignorant to the fact that he should be acknowledging this problem. It cost the lives of eleven people in Lagos and Maximoff took the blame for it out of her own guilt despite the fact that she was only covering for Rogers’ incompetence.

Rogers stated that he had valid concerns over how the power the Avengers had would be distributed over the world, over where their assistance would be implemented. He stated that ‘the best hands are still our own’. These concerns and his display of leadership (particularly in regards to arguing with an emotionally compromised teammate) are next to useless when he has been abusing his power as the leader of the Avengers to track his old friend down for years. Even worse, he purposefully withheld information regarding the death of a teammate’s parents from him so he could fund this wild goose chase while also scolding him for keeping secrets and causing catastrophic events. The irony here is obviously completely lost on Rogers given his continued protest to the Accords even with his own involvement in creating a new version of them.

While Stark’s solution may have been made in an emotional state and in haste it holds more water than ensuring that you are above the law. Stark even had the foresight to suggest ratifying questionable sections of the Accords to compensate for Rogers’ arguments in regards to how much power the Avengers would have over their services. The solution was perhaps idealistic in Stark’s mind (he is well known for his extreme optimism) but it is certainly better than giving himself an all-powerful role as an international policing system. This level of arrogance and ignorance is something that would almost be expected of Stark given his history and even _he_ felt it was several steps too far to give himself and his team that powerful of a position. Even when he chose to go back on his decision it was for good (if irresponsible and illegal) reasons. Rogers has no good reason to assume he is fit for leadership of a summer camp let alone a superpowered police force he thinks should have no laws, accountability, or limits whatsoever.

Rogers is supposed to represent the American way- it’s why he wears our flag’s colors. But if he is trying to represent America he should take a look at the 22nd Amendment. America does not let our presidents serve more than two consecutive four year terms because we know that one person given power for too long of a time is detrimental. We place limits on the most powerful position in the world because we want to see peace, justice, and liberty for all. If the most powerful position in the world has limits than so, too, should the Avengers.

Despite the fair criticism Tony Stark gets in regards to his heroism the eyes of the public should obviously be taking a turn to Steve Rogers because he is far more willing to abuse and use his power than Stark. Stark knows he needs limits, he admits when he is wrong, and despite his failed efforts he does his best to change his actions to better protect the people he is trying to save. Steve Rogers, meanwhile, has been abusing his power for years only to throw a superpowered hissy fit in an airport parking lot because he wanted to continue abusing his and the Avengers power without question.

We have been looking at Stark for too long because he is loud about his mistakes. Rogers’ quiet abuse of power and obvious inability to take responsibility for his actions, though, are cause for far more concern than Stark. Rogers needs limits more than the rest of the Avengers given that he has demonstrated in very clear terms that he is more than willing to abuse his power, and that he is sneaky enough to do so in a way that will not draw attention. Not only that, but he protests to having himself _removed_ from his position of power. HIs actions have proven his heroism to be insidious at best.

“Tough break,” James says when he’s through the whole thing. “Don’t see why you’re mad though, she took your side. Didn’t expect her to given how much she obviously doesn’t like you.”

Tony shakes his head, “I should have known she’d release all the information I told to keep to herself. Now Ross is on my ass about giving out details of the Accords that weren’t meant to be public and she’s probably soaking up the attention. And she doesn’t dislike me; actually it’s the opposite. Christine is just a prickly person, as seen by her continued backhanded comments about me in this damn article, but she likes me.” She liked anyone that had enough guts to tell the truth. Their relationship was a weird one regardless, but that was mostly because Christine was hardly ever willing to let go of the chip on her shoulder. She was always on the look out for a lie, always looking for things that didn’t add up and that was how she even _got_ most of this story. She interviewed him enough times to catch his slip-ups and unravel them.

Where she got footage of the Avengers being broken out of prison he had no clue and with Bucky’s upcoming trial for his HYDRA crimes that wasn’t going to look good. Maybe Tony can argue Steve brainwashed him so _he’d_ be thrown in jail.

“Who cares? People wanted the skinny on the Accords and the new version that’s recently hit the drawing board, she gave it to them. And pointed out how awesome you are. Actually she mostly just insulted Rogers enough to make you look like an angel but still, I can appreciate it,” James tells him, grinning.

“Ross cares. People weren’t supposed to know that prison existed and for good reason, other villains can break each other out of there once they figure out where it is.” Ross could have fun training his teams to deal with _that_. There were enough enhanced people lying around that they could probably find enough to guard the prison if he really wanted to whine about it Tony guessed.

“Whatever. Think I’ll be put there if I get tossed in jail? Because if I can break in I can definitely break out,” James says.

“We aren’t going to talk about that,” Tony says quickly, worried that someone actually _would_ put James and Bucky in jail.

*

Tony was shocked- _shocked_ when Christine’s article started to gain relevance. Not only that but people actually started questioning Steve more than Tony. He handled it with a reasonable amount of grace but he did tell Tony that he absolutely didn’t trust Christine. Probably because she unearthed some things about Steve’s behavior that even Tony hadn’t realized. He never considered that Steve kept his parents’ murder from him to fund his trying to find Bucky but… well it was undeniable. And he did say out and out that he did it for himself. Apparently he meant something different by that than what Tony had taken it to mean.

People didn’t react well to Christine’s analysis of Steve taking advantage of Tony and the Avengers though and… well she was right about that too. Even Bucky looked appalled when he clued in. James probably had more to say but he wasn’t out to say it at that moment so Tony was spared. There was talk, tittering about how Steve blatantly _had_ abused the Avenger’s power for his own benefit and his leadership skills _were_ in question if he couldn’t control his teammates. And then there was the no accountability at all argument that Tony hadn’t picked up on for whatever reason and Americans were skeptical of that but internationally? Steve Rogers found himself banned from most of the world.

Technically none of it was in paper but America didn’t have a good reputation overseas before the Avengers- something Tony almost singlehandedly contributed to- but after they all found out how far Steve’s argument extended he was decidedly unwelcome. And the support for Tony had taken a massive increase. Most of it was the same kinds of arguments he saw in Christine’s article- stuff that pointed out his arrogance but noted that he had the sense to know when to step down. Interestingly after a conversation with Bucky and James’ therapist she noted that arrogant people- _truly_ arrogant people- didn’t step down and would never admit when they needed to. It had been nice to hear at least from one person that they didn’t think he was the literal devil, but better than that other literal devil they might have to deal with so they’d put up with him.

Truthfully he was debating on retiring anyways. He was tired of his being a hero and failing at it thing and the world had other people to defend it. For how he felt his efforts could be used elsewhere, it wasn’t like there was a shortage of world problems, and he had a good relationship with T’Challa. He’d still be in touch with the superhero community so he’d be able to help but thus far most of what he’s done is get himself into trouble however accidentally trying to do what he thought was best. Clearly it was time to take a different approach but one kid from Queens needed some assistance and Peter was… young. Far younger than Tony thought he was. He figured the kid was in college and he’s seen the poor student memes, it made sense that he’d live with his unusually attractive aunt. Apparently he had severely misjudged and the kid he _thought_ was a young looking nineteen year old was _actually_ a fifteen year old child.

Admittedly that wasn’t the smartest thing he could have done but he hadn’t had time- forty-eight hours to be exact- to do a background check on Peter and bring Steve and Bucky in. Now he mostly stuck around to help Peter out as best he could while also keeping him updated in Accords laws. It wouldn’t do to have Spiderman arrested for doing something that was inherently good but technically outside of the law. Poor kid would have a hell of a time explaining _that_ to his aunt. He was an enthusiastic study though, if frustrated that Tony did his best to keep him from getting hurt by stepping in when necessary. He thinks he should be an Avenger and Tony… well he didn’t want Peter to be treated like he had been so he tried to hold him off.

In the meantime he was worried about Bucky and James given their trial and worse no one knew about James at all. It had been a few more articles Christine had released, most outlining other bits of information on the Civil War, that had given him an idea. Specifically her article outlining Bucky’s strange stance in the mess. People followed her work, they knew who she was. If he could talk to her, offer her the story she might be gracious enough to hold off on publishing anything and she could very well change how the public thought of Bucky and maybe even James. Public opinion mattered and right now Bucky’s reputation was spotty at best and James didn’t even technically _have_ a reputation.

If he played this right everyone could end up with a winning angle. Christine got her story, Tony would have to spend less effort marketing Bucky’s sad tragic backstory and he wouldn’t even have to worry about how to deal with James, and the public would be swayed to the right side here. Bucky didn’t deserve to go to prison and truthfully neither did James even if Tony was still fairly certain he didn’t feel much guilt for killing his mom, who had been innocent no matter what James thought. Either way Christine was good at framing things, good at telling a story that was both factual and engaging. Unlike most other reporters she wasn’t there to sensationalize a story she was there to report facts. Tony not only respected that, but he knew exactly how far she was willing to go thanks to her telling all Ross’ dirty little secrets and ditching the blame mostly on Tony given that his recordings were all floating free for anyone to listen to.

But that was useful. People also knew that Christine wasn’t interested in selling bullshit because of how far she went to cover the Civil War thing. It meant Tony wouldn’t have to build credibility onto himself when it wasn’t very founded and that would help Bucky’s and James’ case publically. Besides, Christine has always been a little bloodthirsty so he figured this was a good enough opportunity that she might agree to a couple limits if she got the scoop she wanted. The only issue he’d have to truly worry about here was whether or not she’d be on Bucky’s side. Tony damn well knew, thanks to his history with her and from her coverage of the Civil War, that she wrote for her audience, not for the people who might try and shut her up. If she was against Bucky, or James even, they were fucked. But it was a risk he was willing to take because Christine might be an asshole but she was fair. He doubted that she’d be against him after all he’s been through.

Christine could be instrumental so he talks to Bucky about his plan, mostly because he was the one that was around, and waits for James’ input before he moves forward.

**Author's Note:**

> [My writing Tumblr](https://tenspencerriedplease.tumblr.com/)


End file.
